Composer: Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Performer: Alan Cumming
Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Conductor: John Mauceri
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata Classics
Catalogue: TOCC0704
Release: 2023
Size: 2.59 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (After Tchaikovsky’s Op. 71, TH 14)
01. Overture
Part 1 “Nuremberg, 1416”
02. I. Once a Long Time Ago
03. II. The Mousetrap!
04. III. Princess Pirlipat
05. IV. The Curse
06. V. Searching for a Cure
07. VI. The Krakatuk Nut
08. VII. The Curse Is Lifted
09. VIII. The Mouse Queen’s Death
10. Transition: The Drosselmeyers
Part 2 “Nuremberg, 1816”
11. I. Christmas Eve
12. II. Godfather Drosselmeyer
13. III. The Miniature Marzipan Castle
14. IV. The Nutcracker
15. V. Stranger Things
16. VI. The Great Battle
17. VII. After the Dream
18. VIII. Drosselmeyer’s Story
19. IX. Marie’s Devotion
20. X. The Mouse King Returns
21. XI. Fritz’s Sabre
22. XII. The Great Voyage Begins
23. XIII. Candy Meadow
24. XIV. The Mechanical Ballet Troupe
25. XV. Sailing on Rose Petals
26. XVI. The Capital City
27. XVII. The Marzipan Castle
28. XVIII. Empty Twaddle!
Part 3 “Nuremberg, 1834 – Today”
29. I. As Time Goes By
30. II. Nathaniel Drosselmeyer
31. III. The King’s Proposal
32. IV. Epilogue
Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, which has its origins in a novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, contains some of the best-loved music ever written. But its composer wasn’t very happy with it, perhaps because the plot he was given to work with allowed him to present only a series of dances, losing the moral basis of Hoffman’s surprisingly modern tale, with its messages of inclusivity and what is now called ‘women’s agency’ – here it is the little girl who saves the prince. Hoffmann’s aspirational story continues well after the ballet ends, with the little girl, now grown up, marrying the prince, who is now king. John Mauceri has brought the ballet back to its inspiration, calling on music from elsewhere in Tchaikovsky’s orchestral output to fashion this ‘re-telling’, marrying Hoffmann’s text and Tchaikovsky’s music for the first time.